The Healing Journey

February 18, 2026

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40-day penitential season we know as Lent.

More than 1,600 years ago, John Chrysostom, an Early Church Father, lived as a hermit in a mountain cave near Antioch. He ate little and seldom slept. Those years of self-denial gave him a deep spiritual understanding of Lent, about which he said: “No matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.”

They are words modern Catholics can take to heart as the 40-day penitential season of Lent begins, and we strive to follow the example of Jesus, who went into the Judean desert for 40 days and nights to fast and pray and confront the temptations of the devil before beginning his public ministry.

For Christians, Lent is a time of preparation that leads to Easter, a liturgical season that dates back to the 4th century or earlier, during which we imitate Our Master by praying, sacrificing, and withdrawing from pleasures that include food and festivities.

Through devotions, such as the Way of the Cross and the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, the Lenten Season allows us to focus on the suffering and death of Christ to better prepare us to rejoice in his Resurrection.

It was through suffering that Christ took upon the weight of our sins, ultimately dying on the cross out of love. And through our suffering, he can help another person when we unite our grief and suffering with his during the Lenten journey.

Throughout the season, the color purple dominates in liturgy and churches because it symbolizes suffering and mourning in anticipation of the Passion and also because of its regal association, which calls to mind Christ’s Resurrection and sovereignty.

During the Middle Ages, there was a tradition of “Lenten Mourning,” in which the Church and State forbade entertainment and merry-making, and those who lived in royal courts were required to dress in black.

Certain dishes became popular, particularly vegetarian soups such as split pea in Eastern Europe, onion soup in France, beet soup in Russia and lentil soup in Italy. The oldest Lenten bread is the pretzel, whose origins date back to fifth century Rome and southern France. The dough, which contained no butter or eggs, was shaped like arms in prayer with the configuration of three holes that symbolized the Blessed Trinity.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening. During that time, as members of the Mystical Body of Christ, we choose to accompany him as he journeys to Jerusalem and the fulfillment of the Paschal Mystery.
©J Pisani

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